Dark Times
by taylorbell123
Summary: Aria's finally happy with her life. She has a good career, a cute baby and a great husband. But her life will be shattered when a stalker threatens her and her family. Featuring Emison, Spoby and Haleb. Plus Ezra is included too.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Hey, I have a crazy idea," Aria said as she lay in bed next her fiancé Jason. "Let's just get married here in Vegas."

"Now? What about that big wedding you wanted?" Jason asked.

Aria shrugged. "I've been thinking a lot lately and I really don't want a wedding. It's too stressful and I'd hate to be the centre of attention. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable. I just want to marry you." She leaned over and kissed Jason. They were both dressed only in their underclothes. They were in Las Vegas for Aria's book signing. Their 16 month old daughter was at home in Rosewood being taking care of by Ella. Aria and Jason just needed to spend some quality time alone together. They were staying at a hotel.

Jason pulled her on top of him. To him, seeing Aria in underwear and a bra was the sexiest thing ever. He loved her so much. "If that's what you want then let's do it. Honestly, I was dreading a wedding. I hate all that stuff."

Aria laughed and kissed him again. "Good. I thought you were getting cold feet."

Jason tenderly stroked her hair. "No cold feet. So do you want to do this today?"

"Tonight. Let's just spend the next few hours getting ready separately and then I'll meet you at the chapel. Nothing too fancy though, let's just keep it low key," Aria said.

Later that night, Aria and Jason got married in a tiny little chapel by a priest dressed up as Elvis. They'd deal with their family's reaction later but now they were just so happy to be married.

**I know its super short but if you want me to continue let me know in the review. I promise the story will be really shocking and interesting. And future chapters will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Aria and Jason spent the next few hours just wandering around Vegas as a happily married newly-wed couple. First they went to go see a Criss Angel magic show and then they went to a restaurant. There was a man giving horse and carriage rides around the Vegas, as corny as they both found it, Aria and Jason decided to get on for fun.

Aria held onto Jason's arm as she looked up at all the bright lights in the city. Content, she sighed.

Jason smiled. "You're not already regretting marrying me, are you?" he joked.

Aria cuddled into him. "No, I know I said I didn't want a wedding but I can't stop imagining how cute Nadia would have been as a little flower girl."

Jason nodded. "We can always have a vow renewal back home if you want. Just family and close friends."

Aria bit her lip. "Come to think of it, I really would like that. Getting married is a big deal. I at least want some pictures to put in a photo album. You're not mad at me for changing my mind are you?"

"No, it would be my pleasure to marry you again. And you're right about Nadia, she would look adorable as our flower girl."

They spent the next three days in Vegas at a five star hotel. They barely left the bedroom. It was nice being so carefree. All they did was spend every moment together as newlyweds.

Sitting by the hotel pool, Jason turned to Aria. "This doesn't count as our honeymoon, does it?"

"Why? Are you tired of me already?" Aria smirked.

"No, that's not it." Jason put his hands around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Being dressed in only a purple bathing suit, Aria had to stand on her tippy toes to reach Jason's lips. That was the annoying thing about barely being over five feet tall, Jason was over six feet and Aria could only kiss him without difficulty if she was wearing heels. "I've just really loved spending the past few days with just you. I'd like to do that more often."

Aria smiled at him. "We'll spend plenty of time together. We just need to make our relationship a priority." They sat down together on the deck chairs. "And besides, every day with me is a honeymoon," she joked. They kissed again, this time a little more passionately, more like making out actually. Not wanting an audience of the other guests, Aria pulled away. "Let's go back to the room. Ever since beginning their relationship years ago, Aria and Jason always had a pretty physical relationship, often having sex every day. Since getting married three days ago, they'd had sex at least twenty times. At first, when they first started dating, it was pretty much just about sex. They had a strong emotional connection that formed a little bit later, but at first it was just sheer lust that brought them together.

When they got back to Rosewood the following day, they were delighted to see their daughter Nadia. She had blonde hair and green eyes. Ella had been babysitting for the past few days.

"Mom, we have some news," Aria said.

Ella eyed Aria up and down. "You're not pregnant again are you?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "No, we got married."

Ella's mouth dropped open. "What and you didn't invite me?"

"There wasn't really a wedding. We just went to some chapel in Vegas. We're having a vow renewal sometimes soon here in Rosewood," Aria said.

"Well, I'm just happy for the both of you and Nadia. Now you guys are an official family." Ella smiled. "This is so strange. Jessica and I have been friends for so long, it's strange to think her son is my new son in law. Welcome to the family Jason."

Jason smiled. "Thank you." He took Nadia. "And thanks for always taking care of Nadia."

"No problem at all. Nadia's beautiful. She looks like you." Ella smiled at the newly married couple. "So, have you guys told anybody else?"

"No, it all happened kind of quickly," Aria said. "We've been engaged for over a year. It felt right."

"So is this a secret or can I tell Mike?" Ella asked.

"Of course you can tell Mike," Aria said. "Where is he anyway? I haven't seen him in months."

Ella laughed. "He's around. He spends a lot of time in Pitsburg now since getting that job."

Later that night at Aria and Jason's house, they sat on the couch together while Nadia napped in her room. The rain was pouring outside and there was also thunder and lightning. They were watching "Nashville" on TV. Jason didn't like it but it was Aria's favourite show. Fed up, Jason sighed. "I'm going to get something in the kitchen, do you anything?" he said.

"No, I'm good," Aria said. "Hey Jason, do you believe in ghost?"

Jason looked at her strangely, amused. "Not really. Why?"

Aria shrugged, "I don't know, sometimes I hear noises when you're not here." The thunder outsides roared, like a perfect horror movie. "It just freaks me out."

"What kind of noises?" Jason asked.

"Like footsteps, like someone's up walking around upstairs. And don't stay it's a mouse, because mice don't wear shoes." Aria was beginning to get freaked out. The doorbell rang. "It's so late. Who could be calling?" The doorbell rang again.

Jason rubbed Aria's arm as a way to reassure her. "Relax, it's probably not the ghost," he joked as he went to answer the door.

Even though Jason was there to protect her, Aria felt very nervous as she waited for him to return. "Well, who is it?" Aria called.

Jason walked back into the room with a black envelope in his hand. "Nobody, this was outside." He handed it to Aria and watched her open it. "What is it?"

Aria opened it. Her heart jumped. "Hi Aria, I know all your secrets _ A" she read it out loud. "What kind of sick joke is this? Who the Hell is A?" She handed it to Jason.

He inspected it. "The envelope doesn't have an address on it. Whoever wrote it delivered it themselves, not through the post." Noticing how frightened Aria had become, Jason pulled her in for a hug. "It's probably just a joke, you know, some angry fan of your books might be pissed off you killed of their favourite character." This made Aria laugh a little. "Maybe we could call the police just to be safe."

Aria didn't know what to do. "I don't really want to turn this into a big deal. Maybe I could just ask Spencer to ask Toby to take a look at it. I'll do it in the morning." Suddenly there was a bang upstairs and Nadia began to cry loudly from her room. "What was that? Oh my God do you think there's someone up there?"

Jason began to run up the stairs. "Stay here! I'll get Nadia." Aria was about to follow him. "Aria, stay here, It's not safe."

Feeling helpless, Aria felt shaken. "Okay, but hurry and be careful. I'll call the police."

When Jason got to Nadia's room she was crying loudly. He picked her up and made sure she was okay. Ignoring his order to stay downstairs, Aria came up and took Nadia. The footsteps were getting louder in the attic. Jason proceeded to open the attic door and walked up the steps.

"Jason, get back here! It's dangerous," Aria whispered, still trying to sooth Nadia whose crying had almost stopped. "Please come back."

Jason ignored her. "I want to see who it is." Just as he got to the top of the stairs, he stopped. "I think you need to come up here." He walked down the steps and took Nadia. "It's Byron. He's up there."

Aria was in shock. She hadn't seen her father in years. "I'm not going up there." Instead she yelled at Byron. He began to come down the attic stairs. "What are you doing here?"

"I need help," Bryon said. It looked like he aged a lot since she last saw him, he had lost some hair and had wrinkles. He began to take a step closer to Aria and Nadia. "Is this your little girl?" He was about to touch Nadia but Aria stopped him. "She's beautiful."

"Don't touch her! What are you doing here?" Aria snapped. "Speak."

Byron looked at Jason. "So you two are married. I would have never imagined that a few years ago."

Aria was boiling with anger. "Well of course not. You were never there. Have you been living in my attic?"

Bryon nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry. I just didn't know where else to go."

"I don't care where you go but you can't stay here," Aria said.

**What do you think will happen? Do you like it? Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three_**

"Are you okay?" Jason asked Aria, minutes after Byron left.

Aria exhaled. "Yeah, I'm fine. He just makes me so angry, you know? He cheats on my mom, walks out on me and Mike, and then comes back ten years later looking for help. It's like he thinks he's done nothing wrong." Aria looked at Nadia. "How dare he stay in the attic for so long without telling me. He could have been a danger to Nadia."

"Do you think he's the one who has been sending letters?" Jason asked.

Aria's head hurt. "I don't even want to think about that. I have a headache I'm going to go to bed." She kissed Jason on the cheek. "Goodnight."

The next day Aria was having lunch with Emily and Alison. Emily and Alison had been dating for the past two years and had recently become engaged. Alison was furious with Jason when she found out that he had married Aria. Not because she didn't want them together, she did, but because she didn't get to attend the wedding.

Aria zoned out of the conversation while she was bottle feeding Nadia. Emily and Alison were talking about wedding stuff again, venues, dresses, dates. All the details made Aria reconsider wanting to have a fancy vow renewal. She was happy with the way things were. For the first time in her life she actually felt complete.

Out of nowhere Alison asked a question. "What's it like being a mom?"

Aria had to think about it. Everybody always said how challenging being a parent was but she didn't really think so. With Nadia being premature, the first few months were hard, but almost two years later everything had pretty much settled down. Nadia was such a happy, well behaved baby she hardly ever cried or fussed. "Honestly, it's great. Having a baby is just so surreal. It's like they are a part of you forever. And it's insane how much you love your own child. I never wanted kids and I'm still not a baby person who loves to be around other people's babies, but I love Nadia so much. I would die for her if I had to."

Emily looked surprised. "Wow, it's a big commitment though."

Aria shrugged. "It is but my life is here in Rosewood. It's not as if I'm still globetrotting around like I did in college. It's nice to have stability." Aria did kind of miss being carefree sometimes, but life was almost the same as before she had Nadia. "Why are you guys asking?"

Emily and Alison looked at one another apprehensively, then Ali spoke. "After a lot of thought and planning, me and Emily have decided to have a baby of our own. We would like it if you would be our surrogate."

Aria tried to mask her shock. "I'm sorry, your surrogate? Why me? Can't one of you carry the baby?"

"Well we think it would be a better idea to have a third party to carry the babies. That way neither one of us will feel like more or less of a parent to the babies," Emily said. "We're thinking of twins. One egg could be mine and one egg could be Ali's. That way we each have a biological baby."

Ali pitched in. "And we don't want to hire some stranger to do it. We're best friends and you're married to my brother. I can't think of anyone I would trust more than you to do it."

Aria didn't even have to think about it.

Jason was exhausted when he got home from work Friday night Cooking wasn't really Aria's speciality but she always had pizza ordered.

"I'm thinking of taking a cooking class," Aria announced. "Do you want to join with me?"

Jason laughed. "No, I like living," he joked.

Aria faked hurt. "I'm not that bad." She looked over at the bare kitchen window. Last month she accidently set fire to the curtains while using the frying pan. "Besides, pizza and take out every night is so unhealthy," she said as she handed Jason the pizza box.

Jason shrugged as he took a bite of the pizza. "I guess if that's what you want. I'm going to be working overtime a lot in the next two months. Don't you have a book tour coming up?"

Aria shivered at the thought. She hated all the travelling involved in a book tour. It was so exhausting. "That's not until June." Aria sat down on the couch next to Jason. "So, something really weird happened to me today. Emily and Ali asked me to be their surrogate."

Jason looked confused. "I didn't even know Ali wanted a child. You're not thinking of doing it are you?"

"No but I feel kind of bad for turning them down."

**I need opinions. What do you think Aria should do about the surrogacy situation? Any other thoughts. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Aria and Hanna were getting manicures at the beauty salon. Hanna had just broken up with Caleb again last night and she was in the mood for some girl time, including shopping, dinner, pampering and gossiping.

"So what happened between you two this time?" Aria asked.

Hanna sighed. "He wants to move to California to be with his mom and brothers. He asked me to come with him. My life is here. It's so selfish of him to just expect me to move across the country." Hanna worked as a make up artist and hairdresser at a really snooty salon in the city. " It's depressing. In the past I always knew we'd get back together. This time it's different. He's gone for good."

"It might work out," Aria lied.

Hanna shrugged. "I don't know if I want it to. Maybe I'd be better off just moving on with someone else."

"Don't rush into anything. You know how badly rebounds end."

Hanna groaned. "I need a vacation."

Aria laughed, then an idea swam into her mind. "I have a book signing in Australia next week. You could come with me if you'd like. I'll be there was four days."

"That sounds like Heaven, I'm in. Why isn't Jason coming with you?"

"He has to work and take care of Nadia while I'm gone. I'd bring her with me but the flight is too long for her." Something was bugging Aria, she decided to spill. "I'm a little conflicted. Alison and Emily asked me to be their surrogate. "I don't want to do it but I feel kind of awkward around them now after turning them down."

"Would you consider changing your mind?" Hanna asked.

Aria shook her head. "No. I hated being pregnant. The whole time I was pregnant with Nadia I was miserable and so uncomfortable. Besides, I had a c section and the recovery was so painful. I don't want to have to go through all of that if it's not for my own baby."

"Do you want to have another baby?"

"Not really, but I don't Nadia to be an only child."

Hanna faked hurt. "Hey, I'm an only child."

"I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just, if I didn't have Mike growing with me I would have been really lonely." Aria thought for a moment. "I think I'll wait two or three more years before even considering another baby."

The truth was that Aria just wasn't a very maternal person. She loved Nadia more than anything, but she wasn't planned. If it wasn't for that happily accidental pregnancy Aria would have lived contently being childfree forever. She loved her little family. She adored Jason and loved that she got to call him her husband.

Later that night, Aria picked Nadia up from Ella's house and put her in the car seat. As Aria drove along the darkened road, something caught her eye. Sitting on the side of the road with a cup begging for money was Byron. He was homeless.

**Please review!**


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